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After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations. The word alchemy itself was derived from the Arabic word الكيمياء al-kimia. The Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries....

~Joss' story
this is my own, personal, story...the 4 parts were just in general for both of us, and I intend 2 tell just my end. This is after my trip thro the Gateway...
I already told u they called me Envy....and I already said y. what I didn't say is that every1 called me Envy and only my family knew my actual name...even tho it said I was Jossiline on the papers....i even had 2 sign my papers as Envy or else they wouldn't kno it was me...
I had no friends....i was tormented....mother and sister were the only nice ones. At 1 time...i had 2 do a project. A simple report. My name, where I was...

In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and Hermetic practitioners, the heart of alchemy is spiritual. Transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection. This approach is often termed 'spiritual', 'esoteric', or 'internal' alchemy.
Early alchemists, such as Zosimos of Panopolis, highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul. This approach continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes were used as metaphors...

this simple principle is something i've always believed, even on the other side. I am all in that I can comprehend things and kno things and I am 1 in that I am only a small part of a grander theme. I am all in that I kno this but I am only 1 tht does. All is everything from the rocks 2 the river, 2 u and I...and 1 is a single part in a massive thing...i suppose this could b call the second founding principle of alchemy. I found out I could use alchemy when I had gotten away and was sitting in a tree crying...when I looked down there was a patch of flowers beneath me...1 for every 1 of my tears...of...